We're a Fairtrade university

How you can get involved

You can join us at our Fairtrade Lunch held every Wednesday at 12pm in the Multifaith Centre at Kedleston Road
You can get take part in Fairtrade Fortnight, which runs in February and March each year
You can raise money for Fairtrade, perhaps you could do a sponsored run or bakesale with Fairtrade ingredients
You can buy Fairtrade products either from the University/Union outlets (Blends, Keddies, The Dome, Starbucks, etc or maybe the Co-op or other shops)

Our Fairtrade scheme is a partnership between the University, the Union of Students, both our in house catering teams and contracted caterers Aramark and the Chaplaincy.

We have held Fairtrade bake-offs and promoted Fairtrade make-up and spa events, and free water is given out to students by the Chaplaincy at exam times. We have given away free bananas, coffee and chocolate during Fairtrade Fortnight and Fairtrade Breakfasts have been available in Blends and the Halls of Residence.

Would you like to run an event in Fairtrade Fortnight, to highlight the need to support Fairtrade to enable farmers to get a fair price for their produce? You could hold an event to highlight how farmers can be disadvantaged in the global market. Let's work on Fairtrade all year, contact us with your ideas.

Contact Rosemary Horry for more information on how to get involved.

What is Fairtrade?

Fairtrade is now over 25 years old, that is more than a quarter of a century helping farmers to improve their lives and makig a real difference in the local communities.

Fairtrade promotes better prices, decent work conditions and community sustainability. It gives farmers and workers fair terms on their products. This ensures the prices paid to producers do not fall below the market price consequently preventing injustice and improving the lives and position of those working with Fairtrade.

Fairtrade also invests in business and community projects of the community’s choice. It also checks that standards are met by the farmers, workers and companies in the supply chain – this is when products can use the Fairtrade mark.

Fairtrade isn't just chocolate, there are other products – coffee, tea, bananas, sugar, wine, clothing and even Fairtrade gold. Our Fairtrade Statement outlines our commitment to ethical approaches at all levels.

Consider building Fairtrade into your degree!

The Fairtrade movement has come a long way since being set up in 1992 and has been a defining factor in helping consumers purchase products ethically. Many degree courses offer opportunities for student research on Fairtrade as part of your coursework or dissertation. This could take our understanding of how Fairtrade works a little further, and perhaps make a genuine difference. Below are just a few examples. There are many more. Contact the Fairtrade Committee by emailing Rosemary Horry for further information.

Promoting Fairtrade products

In culinary arts, hospitality or tourism management, how can Fairtrade food and drink products become part of the standard offer rather than the exception in the visitor experience? Or in fashion or textile design, how can Fairtrade cotton become the norm?

Telling the Fairtrade story

If you’re a creative type, could you tell a Fairtrade story through creative and professional writing, photography, illustration, journalism, film and media studies or theatre and dance? What are the most effective marketing strategies for Fairtrade products? What can Psychology contribute to how people hear and react to the Fairtrade story?

Educating the next generation

How about an evaluation of the resources available for educating the next generation about Fairtrade, for Teacher Training or Child and Youth Studies students?

The business case for Fairtrade

For economics students, how has Fairtrade contributed to the economies of the countries of the global south? What are the strengths and weaknesses of Fairtrade in business terms? How can logistics and supply chain management support the spread of Fairtrade? In human resource management, what are the barriers to Fairtrade being taken up as an issue of corporate social responsibility?

How effective is Fairtrade in combating global poverty?

Environmental Sciences students are being offered the opportunity to critically analyse historical inequalities between and within countries, and indicate initiatives and movements in international trade to further equality.

We are keen to enable our students the opportunity to research in areas that are currently of global significance and therefore we are offering these research opportunities which we are sure will be of interest to our second and third-year Environmental Science students. If you are interested, please contact Rosemary Horry.

Further information

Read more information about Fairtrade Outcomes at the University
Read our Fairtrade Plan
Read about our Fairtrade Surveys and our actions for the future
Think about how Fairtrade links to and can help deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
We are proud to be a certified Fairtrade University. View our awards from the Fairtrade Foundation